‘Not backing down’: Heritage Collegiate school council concerned with teacher allocations for next year

The school council for Heritage Collegiate in Lethbridge is responding with outrage to the recent teaching unit allocation numbers for the next school year.

Finding out on May 6 the school will have one teaching position in a “hold back” until September 2019, they say the situation is unacceptable for many reasons unique to their school.

Four members of the council sent a letter to the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District (NLESD) expressing their concerns.

The same four representatives met with The Packet for an interview on why they are displeased. They are Gerald Thomas, Jean Butt, Renee Newell and Tracey Russell.

They say although the school will meet requirements to retain all 13 of their teachers for the coming school year, they’ve been slated to have one of those positions “held back” until the beginning of the next school year in September. If the school still meets those requirements, a teacher will then be hired.

While there are 178 students enrolled in Heritage Collegiate for the 2018-19 school year, the population change is actually regarding the junior high half of the school. Heritage has students from Grades 7 to 12.
For the junior high students from Grades 7 to 9, Heritage currently has 88 students for the 2018-19 school year.

In September, they are expected to lose nine students in population, reducing it to 79.

However, the school council says they still meet the requirements to keep their existing teaching unit.

There are currently 13 teaching positions in the entire school.

One of the main reasons why the council representatives think this will not work in their case is because Heritage is one of a few semesterized schools in the province — the smallest and only one in a rural location. This means their school year and grading is structured through two semesters.

If the 13th teacher the council reps say would have to be hired once the school year begins, it would likely be midway through the first semester before this teacher can even begin teaching.

“They’d have to advertise the position, (accept applications), go through the interview process and then hire a teacher,” said Butt.

Another concern about hiring the 13th teacher in September involves the smaller job pool at that late time. The council wants the best possible person to fill the position and fears many experienced candidates will have taken other, secure jobs by then.

“We need that job posted in June,” said Newell.

The council members say junior high students will need the extra staff in the school instead of having classes covered piecemeal, resulting in teachers who are stretched thinner than ever.

“It’s a major concern because it’s an English-Language Arts (ELA) that we’re looking for a teacher for,” said Newell.

They say their teachers are already doing a great job and fear it would be too taxing for the staff to go through since they’re already dealing with a “skeleton crew.”

According to their statistics, in Grades 7 to 9, nearly 40 per cent of students in each grade at risk of failing either ELA or Math, even with current resources.

“They’re struggling,” says Thomas. “They’re coming in from the (Anthony Paddon Elementary School) and coming into a new environment and new situation.”

They also say, if it means they may lose a unit, it will make for a fallout of less in-class support for students which uses an inclusive education model, less course selection for high school students because more teachers are covering other courses, and even less opportunities for teachers to provide extra-curricular activities.

“Students are going to suffer,” says Russell. “Our stats are showing it’s a struggle now. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to turn out like.”

With all these red flags, Butt says they’re frustrated about all this uncertainty because they most likely will have enough students anyway.

“We currently have the numbers.”

She says they’re taking their concerns very seriously.

“We’re not backing down on this issue,” she said.

The group hoped to meet with a representative to the NLESD by Wednesday, May 15.

School board responds to concerns

The Packet contacted the NLESD for comment on the school council’s concerns. While they wrote in a written statement they couldn’t comment specifically on Heritage’s allocations by deadline, the district confirmed they’ve received correspondence from the school council and it is being reviewed with a formal response to follow.

Asked about the allocation process and the “hold back” plan for the school, NLESD explained in the spring of each year, the district makes a preliminary determination of teacher allocations to a school, based on the anticipated enrolment.

“In some cases, enrolment numbers can change over the summer months such that allocations also change — either up or down,” read the release. “Therefore, units are held back to ensure they are appropriately deployed based on actual enrolments in September. This is a normal process which occurs each year throughout the district.”